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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29344986">17 Years</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarhigh9394/pseuds/sugarhigh9394'>sugarhigh9394</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:09:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29344986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarhigh9394/pseuds/sugarhigh9394</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's 2022. It took them 17 years, but they made it. My submission for the CCOAC Future Fic Challenge. Originally posted on 5/31/2012</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Spencer Reid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>17 Years</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on 5/31/2012</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day had finally arrived. October 12, 2022. Today was Spencer Reid's wedding day. Surprisingly, he wasn't nervous. Excited, yes, but not nervous. Maybe it was because he had always known he was going to marry her. He was interrupted in his musings as Canon in D started to play. He watched in awe as Emily Prentiss-Morgan and Penelope Garcia-Lynch came down the aisle in their blue bridesmaid dresses, followed by his daughter, six year old Annie and his youngest son, four year old Aiden, the flower girl and ring bearer. Finally, the moment he was waiting for. As his bride, Jennifer Jareau started to make her way down the aisle, with fourteen year old Henry on her arm, his breath caught in his throat. She was breathtaking, as always.</p><p>Spencer thought back on the past ten years. From when JJ had married Will in 2012 and how, two years later, he had died in a horrible car crash that almost killed JJ and Henry as well. Henry had been six at the time, and he had spent several weeks in the hospital and even more time with Spencer because JJ had been in a coma. The months after the car crash were the hardest because JJ was depressed and had to endure grueling physical therapy. JJ and Henry had ended up staying at Spencer's house, and they never left.</p><p>A year after the accident, Spencer had asked JJ out on a date. Their second date. A year later, Annie, named after JJ's sister, was born. Aiden followed 18 months after that. Spencer had waited to ask JJ to marry him because he knew her heart needed to mend after Will's death. Finally, exactly a year ago on October 12, 2021, he took JJ to a Washington Redskins game and proposed during halftime. She, of course, had said yes.</p><p>Back in the present, JJ and Henry had finally made it to the front of the church. Henry placed JJ's hand into Spencer's and said.</p><p>"Take care of her, Dad. Just like you always do."</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Heart beats fast</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Colors and promises</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How to be brave</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How can I love when I'm afraid to fall</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But watching you stand alone</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One step closer</em>
</p><p>Jennifer Jareau was the happiest she had been in a long time. Today, she was finally marrying Spencer Reid. As she walked down the aisle, with Henry on her arm, JJ saw Spence waiting for her at the altar, and realized that she wasn't nervous, like she had been when she married Will. This time it just felt... right<em>.</em></p><p>
  <em>I have died everyday waiting for you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Darling don't be afraid</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have loved you for a thousand years</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll love you for a thousand more</em>
</p><p>She had always known, deep in her heart, that she would end up with him. She loved Will dearly, but she wasn't <em>in</em> love with him. Nonetheless, his death had hit her hard. Spence had become her rock, and eventually, nine years of pent up feelings had shown their true colors, and JJ and Spence had been inseparable since.</p><p>
  <em>Time stands still</em>
</p><p>
  <em>beauty in all she is</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I will be brave</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I will not anything take away</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What's standing in front of me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Every breath, every hour has come to this</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One step closer</em>
</p><p>JJ thought back to that football game all of those years ago. How sweet and innocent Spence acted. He had absolutely no clue about football, but JJ knew that date was one of the best days in her life. She thought about how so much had changed since then. How much Spence had changed. She knew that ever since she had met Spence, everything that had happened had led to this moment.</p><p>
  <em>I have died everyday waiting for you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Darling don't be afraid</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have loved you for a thousand years</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll love you for a thousand more</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And all along I believed I would find you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Time has brought your heart to me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have loved you for a thousand years</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll love you for a thousand more</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One step closer</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One step closer</em>
</p><p>Finally, they made it to the front of the church. Henry whispered something to Spence as he placed his mother's hand into his father's.</p><p>The priest smiled and began the ceremony</p><p>"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Spencer William Reid and Jennifer Elisabeth Jareau in holy matrimony..."</p><p>
  <em>I have died everyday waiting for you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Darling don't be afraid</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have loved you for a thousand years</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll love you for a thousand more</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And all along I believed I would find you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Time has brought your heart to me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have loved you for a thousand years</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll love you for a thousand more</em>
</p><p>It had taken them 17 years, but Spencer Reid and Jennifer Jareau finally got their happy ending.</p>
  </div></div>
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